View From The Right: Indians Abroad

It lists Indians who run some of the world’s largest companies, including Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and Indra Nooyi.

Published: January 6, 2016 1:05:42 am

Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Indra Nooyi(L-R)

The cover story, “The Dynamic Diaspora”, in the Organiser tracks the growth of Indians overseas. Noting that they have “excelled greatly in vital fields such as medicine, engineering, technology and business”, it says Indians have been “upstanding citizens” in countries they have settled in. The article notes that, acknowledging their significance, PM Narendra Modi has “made it a top priority to connect with them and create an inclusive dialogue”. It also highlights the efforts of previous governments and points out that “the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs introduced Pravasi Bharatiya Divas” in 2003. In 2014 “NRIs remitted $70.39 billion to Bharat, 4 per cent of Bharat’s GDP”.

It lists Indians who run some of the world’s largest companies, including Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella and Indra Nooyi. Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steel-making company, is 55 on Forbes list of Powerful People 2015. The article also underlines the strategic importance of these Indians, who “feel passionately about their mother country and have helped greatly in the political arena”. They take up cases of Hindus in their respective countries and help further their cause. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu to be elected to the US Congress, “introduced a resolution in the US House of Representatives to ask Bangladesh to protect human rights of vulnerable minorities, including Hindus”.

An article in the Organiser argues Goa has been in the news “mostly for wrong reasons”, revolving “around beaches, churches, cheap alcohol and molestations”. It contests the “state’s economic dependence on foreigners” and says that “only a fraction of foreign tourists contribute to Goa’s welfare as compared to a colossal majority of Bharateeyas”. It points out that a “whopping 66 per cent” of the state’s population bears allegiance to Hinduism. It says Goa has “thousands of temples built by Hindu dynasties ruling for centuries, long before the Portuguese even had a home state of their own, yet the structures never find mention in travel guides”.

“The Portuguese conquest of Goa was followed by the systematic destruction of Hindu temples”, the “discrimination against the Hindus forced them to migrate to neighbouring areas.” The article notes that “the existence of Goa in Hindu scriptures dates back to 1,000-500 BC where it finds mention as Gomanta or Gomantak in the epic Mahabharata”. The architectural marvels of Hindu temples are hardly talked about, but “fairly recent architectures during the Portuguese rule are widely popularised”. The article says that “the skewed perspective of a pro-West media and a pseudo-liberal tourism industry that is to be blamed”.

Pak Hurdles

An article in Panchajanya, called “Flight of Indian diplomacy”, applauds PM Modi’s sudden Pakistan visit. It says overcoming domestic pressure, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif said, “India and Pakistan cannot live like enemies.” The article asks who was most surprised by “Modi’s sudden visit?… “Nawaz Sharif? Media? The answer is the army establishment of Pakistan”.

A most trusted person of the Pakistan army, Hafiz Saeed, has given a statement saying, “Nawaz Sharif is hatching a conspiracy with Narendra Modi to destroy the Pakistan army”. It’s clear that Pakistan’s politics is at a crossroads and the country is confronting the perennial fear that its “existence is threatened”. So far, the army has called the shots, and has even effected coups. However, as the “internal conflicts of Islam” have led to terror attacks and mass destruction in Pakistan, the torchbearers of this Islamic republic face both their biggest challenge and opportunity. “The current Islamic model of Pakistan is constructed by the ISI and the Pakistan army… [it] has no scope of a peaceful coexistence with India,” the article says. Thus, while the nature of talks between Modi and Sharif has offered a rare hope, the two leaders will have to be prepared for many hurdles.